The planning horizon is the amount of time an

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

will look into the future when preparing a strategic plan. Many commercial companies use a five-year planning horizon, however a general Planning horizon is around one year. Other organizations such as the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

in the UK have to use a much longer planning horizon to form effective plans. In

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...

, a planning horizon is a future time period during which departments that support production will plan production work and determine material requirements. In

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

, a planning horizon is the length of time an individual plans ahead. It's important in the quest for total value, as opposed to short term pleasure consumption.

See also